December 3, 2009 by Dan White.

CRA goes into competition with with the banks.

They are offering better than bank rates if you overpay your taxes.

Canada Revenue Agency: Interest Rates for the First Calendar Quarter

OTTAWA, ONTARIO–(Marketwire - Dec. 3, 2009) - The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) today announced the prescribed annual interest rates that will apply to any amounts owed to the CRA and to any amounts the CRA owes to individuals and corporations. These rates are calculated quarterly in accordance with applicable legislation and will be in effect from January 1, 2010 to March 31, 2010.

Income tax

- The interest rate charged on overdue taxes, Canada Pension Plan contributions, and Employment Insurance premiums will be 5%.

- The interest rate paid on overpayments will be 3%.

- The interest rate used to calculate taxable benefits for employees and shareholders from interest-free and low-interest loans will be 1%.
If you have tax problems requiring solutions, be sure to go to www.tax-audit-solutions.com or go to www.danwhite.ca

Best Regards

Dan White

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December 3, 2009 by Dan White.

The following article by Vern Krishna, who writes for the Financial Post, give some very good advice on one of the biggest tax problems you can have e.g. a tax search and seizure.

While the article focuses on tax practitioners, it is still completely relevant for small business owners.

Dealing with CRA problems requires expert help. If you are having a problem like this, then email me at dw@911Taxes.com, put “Tax Emergency” in the subject line.

Or call our hotline  905-668-4816

For more information on tax problems and tax solutions go to www.tax-audit-s0lutions.com and or www.danwhite.ca

Dan White

_______

Dealing with a tax-search warrant

Know the process, and remedies after search and seizure

Vern Krishna, Financial Post  Published: Wednesday, December 02, 2009
Related Topics

Dealing with a tax-search warrant

Know the process, and remedies after search and seizure
Vern Krishna, Financial Post  Published: Wednesday, December 02, 2009
Related Topics

A tax search and seizure of a lawyer’s or accountant’s office can be stressful, but it does not have to be so. What do you do when the taxman arrives with a search warrant and sworn information authorizing the search to look for documents in connection with a criminal tax investigation?

First, take a deep breath and normalize your blood pressure. There are various legal protections available, but you must be calm enough to invoke them.

Both the Income Tax Act and the Criminal Code allow the Minister of Revenue to apply ex parte, or without notice, to a judge for a search warrant to enter into premises and seize documents or things found therein. The minister (officially, it’s a minister of the Crown that seeks the warrant) seeking the warrant must support the application for a warrant with information establishing the facts on which he or she seeks the warrant.

The judge has discretion to issue the warrant. The judge will issue the warrant if the government establishes reasonable grounds that the taxpayer or person being investigated has committed an offence under the Income Tax Act and that documents contained on the premises will be evidence of the offence. This is a fairly low threshold and the tax authorities will likely have enough to get a warrant.

Second, examine the search warrant and any information sworn to determine the scope of the warrant and any limitations that it outlines. At this juncture, you must determine whether the Canada Revenue Agency is investigating a particular client, the professional firm or a third party.

The warrant must be specific and identify the particular offence to which it relates. It must also identify the particular building or premises that it authorizes for search and the person who is the target of the search and is alleged to have committed the particular offence.

If the search warrant pertains to a client, you should obtain instructions immediately from the client and, on his or her instructions, retain legal counsel.

If the client authorizes the search, you can co-operate with the authorities in their investigation, but you should keep a detailed record and notes — preferably in the presence of another person– of all documents that the CRA seizes.

You should co-operate with the tax officials to the extent that you can do so. It is an offence to interfere with, hinder or molest any official or prevent him from doing his authorized duties under the tax statute or the Criminal Code.

Third, claim privilege on all documents at the outset. You can ask for the documents to be sealed and placed in custody under the authority of the Criminal Code or the Income Tax Act.

Once the documents have been seized and are in authorized custody, you have 12 days to apply to the court to determine whether the documents — or any portion thereof — should be disclosed to the tax authorities. You will need to review all of the documents to select the particular ones in respect of which you wish to claim privilege on behalf of your client. Failure to pursue this document review will result in the documents being turned over to the CRA after 14 days.

Read more: http://www.financialpost.com/news-sectors/legal/story.html?id=2292884&p=1#ixzz0YY7goFKX
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The Charter of Rights and Freedoms circumscribes the law in respect of search and seizure warrants. The information cannot be simply a fishing expedition; it must specify the documents or things that the government is looking for. Thus, the tax authorities or police must limit their search and seizure to the documents or things that they specify and believe reasonably support the commission of the offence. Under the “plain view” doctrine, however, the person executing the warrant may also seize any other documents or things that are evidence of any other offence under the law.

There is very little that the taxpayer or his or her legal counsel can do to curtail the execution of a properly obtained and executed warrant. The remedies, if any, lie after the search and seizure.

A judge will determine whether the government can retain the seized materials. The revenue minister is entitled to retain seized materials — and the judge must so order — unless the government waives retention. The taxpayer can, however, through his legal counsel apply to a judge for the return of documents if he can show that the documents will not be required for an investigation or in criminal proceedings. Of course, any documents or things that were improperly seized and outside the scope of the warrant will be returned to the taxpayer.

A tax search and seizure can be traumatic. If handled professionally and politely, it should be less so. The client may panic; the professional must remain calm. The courts are quite zealous in protecting unwarranted state intrusions in matters pertaining to criminal tax evasion charges.

- Prof. Vern Krishna, CM, QC, FCGA, is tax counsel and a mediator and arbitrator at Borden Ladner Gervais and is executive director of the CGA Tax Research Centre at the University of Ottawa.

Read more: http://www.financialpost.com/news-sectors/legal/story.html?id=2292884&p=2#ixzz0YY7WytKX
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December 3, 2009 by Dan White.

I am having fun tracking this subject with all the spin doctoring going on. It is amazing to see how CRA is so effective in their scare tactics.

While I agree, Canadians need to report all their income and prepare their tax returns completely and honestly, I don’t agree that a voluntary disclosure is the right answer.

In most cases, there are much better ways to handle coming clean.

For more information on alternatives to Tax Amnesty / Voluntary Disclosures.

Go to www.tax-audit-solutions.com and www.danwhite.ca

or email dw@911Taxes.com

Dan White

________

here is John Greenwood’s interesting article on what the Minister of Revenue has to say, and what

Steven Kohn, the lawyer for Bradley Birkenfeld, a key whistleblower in the UBS case has to say;

Canada’s tax cheats confess in record numbers

6,798 people holding $1.66-billion in hidden assets come clean with CRA

John Greenwood, Financial Post  Published: Wednesday, December 02, 2009

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A flood of Canadian tax cheats are voluntarily coming forward to disclose hidden assets and offshore accounts in record numbers, says Jean-Pierre Blackburn, the Minister of National Revenue. Reuters A flood of Canadian tax cheats are voluntarily coming forward to disclose hidden assets and offshore accounts in record numbers, says Jean-Pierre Blackburn, the Minister of National Revenue.

A flood of Canadian tax cheats are voluntarily coming forward to disclose hidden assets and offshore accounts in record numbers, says Jean-Pierre Blackburn, the Minister of National Revenue.

As of Wednesday, 6,798 Canadians had come clean to the Canada Revenue Agency since the start of the year, revealing $1.66-billion of assets they had not paid tax on, or about 50% more than in the whole of 2008, Mr. Blackburn said in an interview.

The jump in the numbers is because people are getting the message that “people should pay their taxes” after publicity around a recent string of tax-evasion cases, he said.

“People realized that it’s a question of time before we get them,” he said. “I tell them, we’ll get you, we’ll find you.”

The comments come after tax authorities in the United States announced last month that 14,700 well-heeled Americans had confessed to evading taxes to take advantage of the government’s amnesty program.

The lion’s share of those cases involved hidden offshore accounts with UBS AG, which agreed this year to reveal the names of 4,450 U.S. clients with US$18-billion in hidden assets.

Despite evidence that many well-heeled Canadians also hid money with UBS, only a trickle disclosed the information to the CRA, which has led some observers to complain the government is not doing enough to fight tax evasion.

Indeed, of the nearly 7,000 people who came forward in Canada, only 90 involved UBS cases. The rest involve either different offshore banks or other forms of tax evasion, Mr. Blackburn said.

He said the critics are failing to take into account this country’s overall very strong record on persuading Canadians to pay their taxes, which compares well with the United States where in a typical year very few tax cheats come forward.

Under the law, Canadians can avoid legal penalties and fines if they voluntarily disclose assets they are not paying taxes on and there is no deadline. By doing so, they are liable only for the taxes and accrued interest.

South of the border the laws are a lot tougher and in the case of UBS there is a deadline, with no breaks for people who fail to confess in time. On top of that there are rewards for whistleblowers.

“I think our system is a lot better, more [attractive] for Canadians to use,” said Mr. Blackburn.

Not everyone agrees with that.

A central figure in the UBS case Wednesday slammed the CRA for failing to take tax evasion seriously.

Steven Kohn, the lawyer for Bradley Birkenfeld, a key whistleblower in the UBS case, said the Canadian government needs to put in place laws to protect people who come forward with information about tax evasion and reward those who help the government collect revenue that is owed to it.

“The first issue is, does the Canadian government really want to stop tax evasion, and if they want to stop it we now know the steps that have to be taken to do that?” said Mr. Kohn. “Any government that is not instituting effective whistleblower programs is really turning their back on most effective detection mechanism for fraud.

“Canada does not have good whistleblower protection,” said Mr. Kohn. “It’s kind of remarkable that they’re lagging behind [so many other countries.]”

jgreenwood@nationalpost.com

Read more: http://www.financialpost.com/story.html?id=2295700#ixzz0Ydn0JNRd
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